August 2025

August is always a chaotic month, figuratively and literally. With school starting back up, that adds to the literal chaos, and with school starting back up, that adds to the mental chaos, too. Hours of back-to-school setup, device distribution, platform rostering... all that leaves less time for reading than I'd like. Somehow I still managed 17 books, including eight ARCs and some fantastic, out-of-my-genre reads as well! I'm at 12 non-fiction books, too, which means I've kept up with my goal of at least one non-fiction book a month! Go me!

5 stars:
The Freedom Seeker by Rucharia Gupta

4.5 stars:

Ollie In Between by Jess Callans, The Wedding People by Alison Espach, A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandana

4.25 stars:

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn, Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn

4 stars:

Trouble Finds Evie Lefkowitz by Diana Harmon Asher, The Library of Unruly Treasures by Jeanne Birdsall

3.75 stars:

See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng

3.5 stars:

The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes, The Unexpected Lives of Ordinary Girls by J. Anderson Coats, Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive, Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight, Where Did Everybody Go? by Don Martin, Confessions of a Junior Spy: The Mean Girl Mission by Rosaria Munda, Disney High by Ashley Spencer, Pasta Girls by Taylor Tracy

For reference, here is my ratings explanation. I'm also going to add that I think The Freedom Seeker and Ollie In Between are on track for some big things in the future - awards, recognition, you name it. They were incredible reads!

July 2025

My teaching role has me working August 1st through June 30, which means July is pretty much non-stop reading - by the pool, at the beach, on vacation - anytime I'm not with people, I'm reading. And this July was no exception. Two re-reads, 13 Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs), and yes, more Gordon Korman. Tons of fantastic reads this month!

5 stars:

Old School by Gordon Korman

4.5 stars:

Westfallen I by Ann Brashers & Ben Brashers, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Free State of Jax by Jennifer A. Nielsen

4.25 stars:

Don't Forget to Breathe by Brianna R. Shrum & Sara Waxelbaum, The AI Incident by J.E. Thomas, 13 Ways to Say Goodbye by Kate Fussner, Moonleapers by Margaret Peterson Haddix

4 stars:

Level 13 by Gordon Korman, Masterminds by Gordon Korman, Masterminds 2: Criminal Destiny by Gordon Korman, Masterminds 3: Payback by Gordon Korman, Zeke the Weather Geek: There's Mud in My Flood! by Ann Malaspina &Joan Axelrod-Contrada, Westfallen II: Into the Fire by Ann Brashers & Ben Brashers, Influenced by Sarah Darer Littman & Cindy L. Otis

3.75 stars:

My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan, Totally Psychic by Brigid Martin

3.5 stars:

Donut Summer by Anita Kelly, Gabby Torres Gets a Billion Followers by Angela Dominguez, Totally Popular by Brigid Martin

3.25 stars:

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

3 stars:

Enough is enuf by Gabe Henry

2.75 stars:

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin

Unrated Picture Books:

Rainbow Fish and the Great Escape by Marcus Pfister, 9 Little People by Regina Feldmann